Tag Archives: place names

Photocopied extract of an article about the location of the Old Norse place-name ‘Isleborg’ in the Argyll Islands, by Dr John Holliday, Balephuil, and the possibility that it refers to an ancient fort on Loch an Eilein on Tiree. Published in West Highland Notes and Queries, Series 4, No. 2, December 2016.

Extract from Archaeology Ireland magazine, Autumn 2015: ‘Decoding Finn mac Cumaill’s Places’ by E FitzPatrick, R Hennesy, P Naessens and JF Nagy. An academic interpretation of European place-names in relation to the traditional Celtic tales of the warrior-hunter Finn mac Cumaill and his fian (wild band), which are historically popular among the Gaelic-speaking people of Scotland, Ireland and Isle of Man.

West Highland Notes and Queries, August 2016, published by the The Society of West Highland & Island Historical Research Ltd, Coll. Articles include ‘An Account of the Island of Coll: Grimsary’; Myth, History and Genetic Genealogy: Ailpein, Chriogair, Mhic Gille Chonaill; Ranald MacAllan Og; Place-names in the Argyllshire Valuation of 1751; Who was Florence MacLean (1365-1430)?; Highland Tacksmen’s use of Gaelic in the Nineteenth Century.

Book ‘Longships on the Sand – Scandinavian and medieval settlement on the island of Tiree: a place-name study’ by Dr John Holliday, Balephuil, 2016. Signed by the author: “To An Iodhlann, with best wishes to all who sail in her!”

An Iodhlann’s Chairman, Dr John Holliday, has written and published a new book ‘Longships on the Sand’. Based on some 250 Norse and medieval place-names, this fascinating new analysis demonstrates that the Norse influence on Tiree was intense, profoundly shaping the island from the ninth to the thirteenth century as one of the Outer Hebrides. Available from An Iodhlann at £35.

Framed, printed map of Scotland showing old place-names, drawn in 1695 by Robert Morden. Includes later hand-written annotations. Originally published in ‘Camden’s Britannia’ 1695, with maps of English Counties and Scotland, Wales and Ireland.

Photocopied extract from the Scottish Historical Review, 1915, by John Gregorson Campbell (Tiree, 1836-1891), about the origins and tellings of a folk story about a reclusive and sarcastic old woman of supernatural powers. Probably of Irish origin but includes Tiree its various versions.

Two folders of handwritten notes made by Eric Cregeen while he was recording Tiree people speaking onto cassette tape during 1972 and 1974, plus a map of Balephuil, Balinoe and Barrapol annotated with the names of people living in each house. People recorded in notes: Donald Sinclair, Hector Kennedy – Balephuil, John Brown – Balephuil, John MacLean – Kilmoluaig, John MacLean – Cornaigbeg. Subjects covered include ancestry, Gaelic prose and songs, people living nearby, second sight, place names, shebeens, building construction, poverty, weather, schools, food, shops, water supplies, emigrants, rents, skeleton, confrontations, ferries and ships, literacy, crofts, Pairc na Coille, wars, Land Leagues, churches, illnesses.

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